“I can’t believe how nervous I am.”
“So this might be a bad time to tell you my parents are here too.”
Her face paled, and he thought she was going to throw up. He knew the signs only too well. Fear and panic always affected people this way. He was lucky, as a fireman he had learned to control that fear, and channel it into positive action. It was the only way he carried himself into dangerous situations, if the fear controlled him, then lives got lost.
Right now Max needed his help. “Listen Max, my family are great, they want me to be happy, and I know they will love you. So relax, they are probably more nervous than you are. Think of it like one of your meetings with clients, do you ever wonder how nervous they are before they meet you?”
She shook her head, taking a big gulp of air. The colour had returned to her cheeks a little, but he was worried she would run out on him again. Twitching curtains at the window told him they were running out of time, any minute now and the door was going to open and his excited family was going to spill out. So he kissed her.
At first she was stiff, her body in shock, but slowly she melted, and her hands went around his neck and she clung to him as though he was the last solid thing on this earth.
A click of the door, and light spilling out told him they had in fact been rumbled.
“You can do this,” he whispered. “You are a successful woman, my mom is probably more scared than you. Her worst nightmare is losing me to a dragon.”
“What if she thinks I’m a dragon?”
“Let’s find out?” He turned, dragging her along behind him when he knew she was pulling back, hoping for escape. “Hi guys.”
“Hello, Dan, and you must be Max.” Helen came out of the house and hugged Max, who froze for a second before wrapping her free arm loosely around Dan’s sister.
“Hello,” Max managed to say, her face a mask of fear. He winked at her, squeezing the hand he still had hold of.
“Come inside, the others can’t wait to meet you.” She turned to speak to Dan. “Mom has been baking, I hope you’re hungry.”
Dan chuckled, “There I told you my mom was nervous she always bakes in times of stress.”
Times of stress. She could sympathise with that, perhaps she would have something in common with Dan’s mom after all. Feeling a little more positive she followed Dan and Helen into the house.
“Hello, Max.” A man she guessed must be Dan’s father came over and shook her hand, a relief because hugging did not come naturally to Max.
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Call me Stuart,” he said smiling.
“Nice to meet you Stuart.”
“Come on through to the kitchen, Mom is making tea.”
Helen lead her along a hallway, Dan held back a little, talking to his dad. Max felt cast away, out of her depth without Dan. Not that he was far away, the house was small, comfortable, but a squeeze for a family. In spite of that it was so obviously a much loved home, with children’s toys scattered around, and hand drawn pictures littering the walls.
Max found herself smiling at the scenes of snowmen in summer, and lollipop trees. All things she would have drawn herself as a child, but never treasured by her parents.
“It’s a bit cluttered, sorry,” Helen said, picking a doll up off the floor. “Jess, what have I told you, if this doll gets trod on again her head will probably not go back on.”
“You haven’t hurt Jasmine have you?” A worried voice asked.
“No, but you can’t leave toys lying around when there are so many people in the house.” Helen passed the doll to a little girl who appeared from the kitchen, eating a nice sticky cupcake.
“Is this Uncle Dan’s girlfriend?” Jessica asked, eyeing Max suspiciously
That was the problem with children, they were too truthful and spoke their minds. No tact. So whatever the family thought of Max would probably tumble out of Jessica’s mouth.
“Yes, this is Max, going to say hello?”
“Hello, Max, isn’t that a boys name?”
“Hi, it can be, but it’s short for Maxine.”
“Do you want a cupcake? Nana’s been making them all day, they are the best thing ever. Come and try them.”
Max followed the little girl into the kitchen, a little too nervous to even contemplate a cupcake. It seems Dan’s mom was feeling the same way. When she spotted Max, she nearly dropped the plate of cakes she was holding.
“Oh. I didn't know you were here, Helen didn’t say. I hope you don’t think I’m avoiding you.”
“No. Not at all. I was just being told how good your cakes are.”
“Oh, Jess has already had three.”
“Mom.”
“Sorry, but she likes them so much.” Dan’s mom wiped her hands on a towel, and came over to say hello properly.
“Hello Max, I’m Karen. I would say Dan has told us all about you, but he’s kept you a big secret from us. I hope the fact he’s told us now means you’re serious about each other?”
“Mom,” Helen warned.
“What? I’m allowed to ask, it’s not like Dan to keep secrets.”
Max felt bad about Dan lying to his family for her. “We both wanted to make sure how we felt about each other before going public.” Max hoped that would get Dan off the hook and mean no more questions, but families liked to know everything it seemed.
“So has he met your parents?”
Now she saw what Dan’s mom was worried about, that he had met her parents, and that he was in some way ashamed of his own family. Nothing could be further from the truth. “No. No, they don’t know about us.”
“Oh? At least that means we’re not the last to know. So are you planning on introducing them soon?”
“We haven’t talked about it yet.” Max saw, Karen’s expression change. This was dangerous, now she thought Max was ashamed of Dan. Mom’s were tricky to keep happy. “They don’t live very close by, and I don’t see them very often.”
That didn’t help. and Max could almost read Karen’s mind, here was the woman who was going to take her son away from her. Already they had kept secrets, it all crossed through her mind, her expression growing more troubled. Max had to feel sorry for her, this was a close knit family and she was here to stir up trouble. This was her chance to make things right, to reassure Dan’s mom and win her over. Great, the chances were she would mess it up.
“My family have never been close. My father travelled when I was a child, so I went to boarding school. I never had a chance to really know them, I wasn’t as lucky as Dan to have a close family around me.”
“Cup cake, Max? Before the girls eat them all.” Helen offered her a cake, and she took one.
Karen’s face softened, and Helen winked at Max, she had passed the little test. And feeling pleased with herself she bit into the cake, finding it really was delicious.
“I wish I could bake,” she said, wistfully, taking another, this time a delicate iced sponge.
“I’ll teach you,” Karen said smiling.
“Thank you,” Max said, not really knowing if she would take up the offer.
“My mom has taught most of the neighbourhood how to bake,” Dan said, coming into the kitchen. He looked at Max, to check she was OK, and Max smiled back, grateful she wasn’t having to force it. Perhaps families were not that tough after all.
“What he’s not telling you is I could never teach him,” Karen laughed.
“Why learn to cook when your mom does it so well?” Dan flung back at her mischievously.
“We’re going to make a terrible couple then, I can’t cook either.” Max added.
“Then you really will have to come over and let me teach you.” Karen touched her lightly on the arm. “I would really like us to get to know each other Max, our family is your family now, I want you to know that.”
Max cleared her throat, a lump seemed to be wedged there. “Thank you, Karen, I really want to get to know you all.” It was true, they all seemed so nice, in a good way, and she had always wanted to know what it was like to be part of a loving family.
“Careful, Helen will have you signed up for babysitting duties in no time,” Dan joked, and nearly ended up with a cupcake in the face.
“If she’s been dating you for any length of time she’ll have had plenty of practice at babysitting.”
“Hey, I’m older than you,” He joked back, offended.
“You’ve never acted it,” Helen retorted.
“They’re always like that,” Jessica said matter of factly. “Do you want to come and say hello to Laura, she’s babysitting the kittens.”
“Oh, you have kittens!”
“Yes, come on, I’ll show you.”
Jess slipped her sticky hand in Max’s and led her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. More signs of a busy family life were evident in the boots and coats hung by the back door, and the various bath toys visible as they passed the open bathroom door. Turning they headed for a door which was shut, Jess knocked quietly, and asked, “Can we come in?”
“Yes, they’re asleep.”
Jess opened the door very quietly, and led Max in, a finger on her lips warning her to be quiet. Max smiled at the care the two girls were obviously lavishing on the two kittens. They were curled up asleep in a dolls pram, and Max wondered if Jasmine the doll had been turfed out to make way for these bundles of fluff.
“They are very cute,” Max whispered.
“I know, this one is mine, and this one is Laura’s.”
“Do they have names?” Max asked.
“Mine does,” said Laura, “She’s called Sparkle.”
That’s a lovely name. What about yours Jess?”
“No. She doesn’t have a name.”
“She won’t name it because Mommy said if we lose the house we might not be able to take them with us.”
“Shut up, Laura, we’re not going to lose the house.”
“That’s not what Mommy said to Nana. She was crying and...”
“I said shut up.”
“Hey, shhh. You’ll wake the kittens.” Max kept her voice calm, the kittens were indeed stirring, and stretching in their sleep. “I’m sure everything will turn out alright.”
Laura opened her mouth to say something, but the look Jess gave her silenced her. Max settled down with the two girls to watch the contented kittens, Laura brought all her dolls and stuffed toys in to say hello. Jessica sat silently, and Max couldn’t help but feel guilty. If Dan had been harder, if he hadn’t fallen for Max, then they would have the money they needed to at least put off the trouble they were in. She vowed then to do whatever it took to help this lovely little family.
“How are we doing in here?” Dan appeared at the door.
“Hi Uncle Dan,” Laura said excitedly. “I’ve been showing Max all my dolls.”
“Have you? Well I’ve come to steal her away, perhaps we could come over again and have a tea party with them.”
“Oh, yes, I would love that.” She smiled broadly, and then said to Max, “Uncle Dan likes to pour the tea, and he brings lots of nice treats for us to eat. You will come won’t you?”
“I would love to.”
“When?” Laura demanded.
“I don't know.” She looked at Dan, not knowing what to say, she had been accepted by these two girls, but didn’t want to impose her company on Helen, or Dan.
“This weekend. I think your Mommy wants us to babysit while she goes shopping.”
“We’re not babies, Uncle Dan,” Jess said matter of factly.
“I know, you are two beautiful young ladies. Now come and give me a hug.” They both got up and launched themselves into his arms.
Max felt a tug in her chest. He did love these two girls, and wanted a family of his own, there was no way she could deny him that. Her ultimate choice would be to agree to the family she thought she never wanted, or to let him go.
“Hey daydreamer,” Dan said, “We have to go.”
“Bye, Max. Remember to wear your best dress for the tea party.”
“I will. It’s nice to have met you both, And Jess, that kitten must really want to know what her name is.”
Jess looked at the kitten, but didn’t say a word. Max followed Dan out of the room, and down the stairs, his mom, dad and sister were still in the kitchen.
“I hope they weren’t too much,” Helen said.
“Not at all, and the kittens are so cute.” Max kept the other comments the girls had made to herself for now, she would share them with Dan later.
“I think Dan would like to whisk you away from some alone time,” Helen said.
“Oh, but Max has only just come down, we haven’t had time to get to know her.”
“Mom, there’s plenty of time, Max isn't going anywhere, are you Max?” Dan said, grinning at her.
“No. Nowhere. In fact we have a tea party planned for Saturday.”
“Oh, is that OK? Dan usually looks after them for a couple of hours, but I expect you two already have plans.”
“No. It’s no problem at all, Helen.” He moved towards his sister and gave her a hug. “You have a few hours to yourself.”
“Thanks Dan,” Helen said, giving him a small smile.
“Right, we’d better go too, leave you to put the girls to bed. I’ll go and say goodnight to them,” Karen said, heading for the door. “Bye Max. I hope you’ll come over to our house for a visit soon.”
“Yes, Karen can’t wait to tell you stories about Dan when he was a kid,” his dad said grinning.
“OK. Well that’s us out the door,” said Dan joking. “I think my past should stay there for now, you’ll put Max off.”
“Impossible,” Helen said firmly. “He’s the best brother in the world. You’re a lucky woman to have snagged him Max.”
“Yes I am,” Max agreed, and she was just beginning to realise that for herself. Now she wanted to have some alone time with him, and show him just how lucky she knew she was.
He looked across, and read something in her face, because the next minute they were definitely leaving.
“Do you want me to take you home?”
“No. Robin will be there.”
“My house?”
“Returning to the scene of the crime. Yes please.”
“It’s five minutes away.”
“Drive fast.”
He didn’t break the speed limit, he had seen far too many times what bad driving did to people, but he cut as many corners as he could. The look in her eyes told him she wanted him, and he struggled to concentrate on anything but the thought of taking her clothes off as soon as they got inside his house.